In 2023 the opening of East Side Access, partly rebranded as the name of its new terminus Grand Central Madison, was all the rage. While the excitement would soon turn to disappointment as the LIRR completely botched the resulting service changes, the new GCM remained a must see, so myself and a friend arranged a day trip to NYC with plans to visit PORT interlocking and tower in Freeport, Long Island, traveling into GCM and getting some clean up photos at the M Cabin drawbridge in Long Island City. On the day of the trip I even achieved an unanticipated bonus goal of getting an extended amount of rear facing NEC photos from the back of my NJT train into Penn Station. You can see the full set of photos here ( mirror ).
First up we have an NJT NEC line train comprised of single level stock and a leading Comet V cab car, stopped at MENLO interlocking to wait for my train to pass by and platform at Metropark while a southbound Amtrak Regional train led by ACS-86 #637 pulls away on track #4..
Westbound signals at UNION interlocking with an NJT ALP-46 just visible at the Rahway platform on Track #B.
The DOCK drawbridges, tower and PATH ramps.
Amtrak MoW MP15D at Manhattan Transfer.
PORTAL bridge with the new bridge construction to the right.
NJT ALP-45 #4516 at ALLIED interlocking.
Video from the rear window of the entire North River tunnel from BERGEN interlocking to Penn Station.
Arriving New York Penn Station.
Heritage painted Amtrak P32AC-DM #713 waiting to depart with an Empire corridor train.
LIRR M7's #7692 and #7448 adjacent to Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad milepost zero.
LIRR Babylon Branch M7 #7565 passing the 2E position light mast signal at PORT interlocking. PORT was re-signaled around 2005, just before the LIRR stopped installing new position light type signals.
An inbound Babylon Branch train bracketed by M7's #7739 and #7188 arrives at Freeport.
Here is part 2 of my June 2023 combined NJT M&E / light rail trip. In part 1 I covered a round trip on the Newark City Subway, continuation to Newark Broad St and then stops at Denville and Summit before ultimately arriving at Hoboken Terminal. In part 2 I'll cover Hoboken Terminal before heading out to Tonnelle Ave on the HLBR. The full set of photos can be found here ( mirror ), just scroll down to see those photos covered in this section.
Upon arrival at Hoboken I encountered Arrow III MU #1314. Despite the M&E being largely electrified, MU's are only used on a few services such as the stop intensive Gladstone Branch locals.
Other equipment hanging out near the buffers included Comet V cab car #6063, #6035 and #6055, along with and split level cab car #7062 and Metro North Comet V cab car #6712 next to NJT Comet V cab car #6040.
Class leading NJT Comet V cab car #6000 could be found adjacent to the new track #5 end buffer that replaced a 1907 vintage buffer that was run through by a slow moving NJT train in 2016. The placement of the new stop mechanism cost about half a carlength of capacity.
The station interior was as gorgeous as ever.
The area outside the official main entrance has been named the George Warrington plaza.
NJT also installed this digital chart to cover all of the strange service patterns.
On the southern expansion platforms I found split level cab cars #7053 and #7037 along with a Metro North Comet V cab on storage track #19.
Well what goes up, must come down. After heading up to New Hampshire on Amtrak's Vermonter and then trolling around for signal photos, it was time to return via the same route. Because I was lucky enough to snag a business class upgrade I was able to conduct a second line survey in the southbound direction with the lack of rain and clouds improving the quality. Also included in this set are photos around New Haven and a westbound survey of the Amtrak Hellgate Line. The full set of photos can be found here ( mirror ).
My southbound Train 57 was scheduled to depart White River Jct around 11am, however my ride needed to drop me off closer to 6am. To help mitigate the 5+ hour wait, I changed the drop off point to a diner in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, and after a filling meal and a couple cups of coffee, I set out to walk across to the Amtrak station on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River . Along the way I passed by Claremont & Concord Railroad GP9 #1907 that switches and industrial park in West Labanon.
The CCRR works on the remains of a Boston and Maine line located about 142 miles from Boston. I used the rail bridge over the Connecticut River to reach White River Jct.
New England Central GP38-2 #437 was still on site, waiting for that day's crew to show up to the G&W side of the stately brick station building..
My Train 57 showed up close to on schedule with Amtrak P42DC #101 in the lead.
There were quite a few people seeing loved ones off at Claremont Jct, NH.
The passing through the connection with the Guilford Rail System's Freight Main Line just south of the Greenfield, MA station.
Arriving at the new Springfield, MA high level platform as a 3-car Amtrak Springfield shuttle sits on the low level track #8 with P42DC #104 in front and a second engine on the rear.
If you recall my recent posts on my trip to White River Junction on Amtrak's Vermonter, I was able to get a good slate of rear photos on both the Amtrak Springfield Line and Boston and Maine Connecticut Valley Line. Well I was also able to collect a substantial amount of rear facing video footage on both my northbound and southbound runs which I will now present below.
I'll start off with a brief slip of the northbound Vermonter as it traverses MILL RIVER interlocking at the junction of the Springfield and Shore Lines. This train takes the northern route to Springfield and continues on past Cedar Hill Yard where Amtrak's Rail Welding Facility for making CWR is located. Unfortunately a camera malfunction cut the video short.
This next video shows the Amtrak Springfield Line between Meriden and Hartford, CT. This section was recently double tracked and upgraded to allow for 110mph operation, however this train only managed to hit 100mph. The high speed section is between the Berlin, CT station and the I-91 overbuild south of the Hartford Station. The new track is the one that is now equipped with concrete ties.
This video covers the Amtrak Springfield Line between Hartford and Windsor Locks, CT. Only the first half of this segment has been rebuilt to double track and Rule 562 cab signaling to support New Haven to Springfield Commuter Rail, however the second section is in its original Amtrak configuration with a single track and bi-directional wayside signals. Maximum speed throughout is 80mph.
In the last video of the northbound run we travel the Amtrak Springfield Line between Windsor Locks, CT and Springfield, Mass. This part of the line is in its original Amtrak configuration with a single track and bi-directional wayside signals. Maximum speed is 80mph. Also note the Windsor Locks platform which the crew described as the shortest in the Northeast. I am unsure why Amtrak's Vermonter stops at Windsor Locks instead of Windsor. Probably access to major roads and parking.
In the first video from my southbound run I get an early start on the former Boston and Maine CT River Line just before the junction between the old B&M and Central Vermont routes at EAST NORTHFIELD. Today the Vermonter takes the diverging route to follow the CT Valley, but until 2014 it would take the old Central Vermont route to Palmer, MA then head west on the former Conrail Boston Line. Note the wayside distant signal to EAST NORTHFIELD interlocking a few seconds in. Despite the complete rebuild and new signaling, speeds on the line remain slow with many 30 and 40mph zones. The video finishes at the Greenfield, MA station, terminus of the daily Valley Flier service.
We continue on the Guilford (former Boston and Maine) Connecticut Valley Line between Greenfield and Northampton, Mass. This section was rebuilt in 2014 after the Vermonter had been moved to the New England Central line via Palmer since 1994 due to poor track conditions. Note the connection with the east-west Boston and Maine line to Mechanicville, NY in the first few minutes of the video. The Norfolk Southern train waiting for a signal is part of their joint venture with Guilford.
This video covers the Connecticut Valley Line segment between between Northampton to Holyoke. Unfortunately the north of Springfield crews were not as accommodating as the south of Springfield crews so I was unable to get the last segment between Holeoke and Springfield.
Back on the Amtrak Springfield Line I was was looking to capture southbound travel on the 110mph section as the northbound train had only managed 100mph in the wet conditions. This video captures Amtrak Springfield Line between Hartford to Meriden, CT with the 110mph being achieved between Hartford and Berlin with speeds from Berlin to Meriden ranging from 80mph to 95mph.
In the last video of the set I record the line between Meriden, CT and New Haven, CT including MILL RIVER junction and the approach to the New Haven station on Metro North territory. The maximum speed in this section is 95mph between the Wallingford, CT Station and CEDAR interlocking. Both Meriden and Wallingford retain downtown speed restrictions due to grade crossings, however the rebuild raised speeds from 25mph to 30 and 40mph respectively. Unfortunately the historic Wallingford station is no longer used in the new scheme.
Well I hope you enjoyed this video trip. Look for the final set of still photos in a few days.
For someone who used to engage in a lot of train travel to central Connecticut, I never really made much use of the Amtrak Springfield Line and its the Regional or Vermonter services. I made two Vermonter round trips to Amherst in the pre-digital camera era and another Inland Route trip via Springfield. I made three additional trips to the Springfield station area over the years and one additional through trip on the Lake Shore Boston Shuttle. All of this was before Amtrak was able to drastically change its Springfield, Mass operations through the reactivation of the former Boston and Maine Connecticut Valley Line and addition of the Valley Flyer and Hartford Commuter rail lines. In the early fall of 2021 I was able to avail myself of an opportunity to stay with a friend in rural New Hampshire by which I could make use of Amtrak's Vermonter to and from the station of White River Junction. Here in Part 1 I will cover by journey from Baltimore to New Haven and then up the Springfield Line. Part 2 will then cover the Springfield Terminal area and the Vermonter's route up the Connecticut Valley. Photos for both parts can be found here ( mirror ).
Part of the impetus for the trip's timing was that I had a number of expiring Amtrak class upgrades that were expiring and low business demand due to the increased use of remote meetings was resulting in some very affordable Acela Express prices. Therefore, instead of taking the Vermonter directly to New Englande, I would take the Acela from BWi to New Haven and then change to the Vermonter after a 2 hour layover. Waiting for the AX at BWI, a northbound MARC train with HHP-8 #4911 arrived a few minutes before my AX trainset led by power car #2004.
The second power car on the rear of the train was #2018, seen here at New York Penn Station.
My train emerged from the East River Tunnels adjacent to LIRR M7 #7295.
At New Haven my Acela dropped me off on the platform adjacent to a Hartford Line commuter train with former Amtrak P40DC #833. Over on the Metro North platform, an MN New haven Line commuter train was ready to make its inbound run with M8 #9165.
The New Haven Station was as sodium vapor as ever, but the CTRail (Hartford and Shore Lines) ticket vending machines were a new addition.
The New Haven Amtrak engine facility had three MPs15 #513, #535 and #537, 3 Ps42DC, #85, #97 and #105, and a few ACS-86's bobbing around.
The lower Hudson valley has many interesting sights, but if nobody in your friend group can choose any particular one to visit, I recommend defaulting to the Oscawana Park, located just south of Cortlandt, NY. It is best known for incorporating the famous three-track, twin bore tunnel on the former New York Central Water Level Route that today continues to host Metro North Hudson Line and Amtrak Empire service trains. The full set of photos can be found here ( mirror ).
The Oscawana Tunnel is several miles north of the Metro North Croton yard that marks the northern limit of electrified service to Grand Central. Half Moon Bay roads provides a view of the northern end of the yard including M3's. M7's and the A-34 traction power substation. We can also see two of the main tracks are being reballasted.
Half Moon Bay Rd leads to Senasqua Park that sits directly adjacent to the former New York Central CD tower, now inhabited by the Metro North signal department.
Even on a reduced port-COVID schedule, there is still plenty of Metro North action with hourly Poughkeepsie diesel trainsets. CDoT owned P32AC-DM #230, seen here wrong railing through CP-36 on track #4 south of the tunnel is still in the New haven livery that has been replace by the Coke Zero scheme on CTRail units. CP-36 provides access to the Croton freight yard from the north and is one of the only instances of a Metro North signal mounted on a high signal mast. On tracks 1 and 2 is the milepost 36.6 automatic cab signal indication point.
Before the pandemic MNRR weekend northbound and southbound Poughkeepsie trains tended to meet in the vicinity of the tunnel and this appears to still be the case with NH #230 and its train meeting a southbound set with MNRR P32AC-DM #201.
Continuing with the whole opposite day thing, Amtrak Train 48, the eastbound Lake Shore Limited, appeared on the normally northbound track #1 with an unidentified private car in tow. Today's New York section of the LSL also consisted of two Amfleet II coaches, two Viewliner sleepers, a Viewliner diner and a Viewliner baggage car.
A pair of Amtrak Empire Service trains were also in the mix with P32AC-DM #702 heading up the northbound and Phase V heritage painted #708 on the northbound.
